Shirt envelope



E. BACON SHIRT ENVELOPE Filed Oct. 5, 1938 April 16, 1940.

lNVENi'OR 6 46 5 460 ATTORNEEY Patented Apr. 16,1940 3 V p 2,197,173

UNITED STATES' PATENT o FicE SHIRT ENVELOPE Edgar Bacon Fail River, Mass, assignor of onehalf to Aime Giroux, Fall River, Mass.

Application October 5, 1938, Serial No. 233,370

2 Claims. (01. 229''87) This invention relates to devices for packing packed, carried, or otherwise handled prior to and preserving laundered shirts, and particularly use by the wearer. My invention relates to an shirts having collars attachedthereto, to prevent envelope having a collar supporting means as an wrinkling and soiling of the same as well as to integralpart thereof, foldable with respect to the 5 provide means for positively supporting collars remainder of the envelope to form said collar 5 of the shirts to prevent damage thereto in pack support. I k ing and other handling of the shirts prior to use; For the purpose of illustrating one method of andthe object of the invention is to provide a carrying my invention into efiect, I have shown device of the character described in the form of in the accompanying drawing, an envelope I0 an envelope made from a single sheet of light which is formed from a single elongated strip 10 cardboard or other suitable material, one side of suitable material, preferably thin cardboard. wall of the envelope being cut out at one end This strip may be printed, lithographed, or thereof to provide a wing-like tongue adapted to otherwise characterized on one surface thereof be arranged within the collar of the shirtformto produce an attractive appearance. The strip ing a curved support to fit the inner contour of is folded to form a central portion H, which 15 the collar; 21. further object being to provide a forms the front of the envelope; and the side tongue on an envelope of the class described, said members i2 and I3 are overlapped and glued or tongue being so fashioned as to form when folded otherwise secured together as seen at M to form back on itself and curved at the end portions the back of the envelope.

thereof a rigid surface fitting within and ex- That partof the sheet from which the central 20 tendingv above the upwardly extending collar of front portion H of theenvelope isformed is die the shirt to support and protect the same; a furcut to form a triangular aperture l5 above which ther object being to provide means for readily are two apertures l6 separated by a central web rupturing the envelope thereby facilitating reor post ll; The upper portion of the front His moval of the shirt whenv desired; and with these cut away as seen at [8 to leave above the aper- 25 and other objects in view, the invention consists tures l8 a collar engaging portion i9 which is in a device of the class and for the purpose normally attached at its endsZU to the members specified which is simple and'eccnomicalin conl2, l3, forming the back of the envelope. struction,.efficient in use, and which is construct It will be noted that the apertures I6 extend ed as hereinafter described and claimed. to the creased side edges of the. envelope and are 30 The invention is fully disclosed in the following so formed as to provide a substantially straight specification, of which the accompanying draw- 1 lower edge 2! for the collar engaging part l9. ing forms a part, in which the separate parts of The web or post I! joins the part l9 with the my improvement are designated by suitable refcentral front portion 1 I.

'erence characters in each of the views, and in In theme of the envelope, the ends 20 of the 35 which: 1 collar engaging part l9 are first severed from the Fig. l is a plan view of one of my envelopes arparts l2, l3; and the shirt 22 to be wrapped is ranged upon a shirt, and indicating the method inserted into the envelope through the apertured of it end thereof in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1,

40 Fig. 2 is a partial section on the line 2-2 of and when in proper position, the part l9 is fold- 40 Fig. .1; and on an enlarged scale with the shirt edover and arranged within the inner-surface of detached; and, thecollar 23 ofthe shirt in a forwardly inclined Fig. 3 is a plan view of the envelope in the position as is illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing. normal position thereof with part of the con- The upper edge of the collar engaging portion i9 struction broken away. is curved as clearly seen in Fig. 3 so that when 45 It is customary in the laundering of shirts tov the portion I9 is arranged in operative position, starch the collars thereof to press or iron the said curved edge will lay substantially in a plane same to form a relatively stifi, smoothly curved surface, as will be apparent in Fig. 2 of the drawcollar, extending outwardly or in an upright poing. It will be understood'that the post I! is sition from the remainder of the shirt. When arranged between the lapels or turned down por- 50 a collar is so fashioned, it is important to protion of the collar. The ends 20 extend around v'ide means for supporting at least a portion of and are curved inwardly at the sides of the 001- the collar to prevent wrinkling or other injury lar as is indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawing. In of the collar by pressure against the outwardly this way, the collar is supported in an upright extending edge thereof when the shirts are position maintaining a neat appearance thereof 55 and preserving the same against creasing or wrinkling, it being understood that the pointed ends of the front turned down portion of the collar 23 are disposed outwardly of the front II of the envelope as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, but may be arranged within the front II if desired.

The aperture I5 provides a finger grip facilitating the opening of the envelope in the insertion of a shirt and in the removal of a shirt from the envelope. All that is essential is to raise the collar supporting and reinforcing part I9 out of the neck opening and then draw the shirt outwardly from the cut out or apertured end of the envelope.

It will be understood that the particular con-' tour of the collar engaging portion I9 may be will be apparent that when it is desired to remove I the shirt from the envelope, the collar engaging,

portion I9 may, if desired, be readily severed from the web I? to facilitate such removal.

It will be noted that my envelope is extremely economical in construction, and that as originally formed, it is readily packed and shipped without damage, and without any waste of. space. At the same time, when assembled into operative position, it forms a collar support especially suited for protecting a shirt collar.

It will be understood that by providing the normally attached ends 20 to the member or part I9, the handling of the envelope is facilitated and the danger of detachment of the part I9 is eliminated. At the same time, the short or narrow ends 20 are quickly severed from the tion of the folded shirt is first placed upon the j exposed upper end of the back wall and then slid through the envelope. In some laundries, forms are used for supporting the shirt and in such cases the envelope will be slid over the shirt and form in one operation.

It will also be apparent that the stem of the T-shaped collar engaging part is foldable with respect to the front wall as well as with respect to the crosshead of said T-shaped part to maintain said part in its upright position. This construction forms a strong bracing member which will resist downward or crushing strains upon the shirt which would otherwise tend to crush or flatten the collar. The curved upper edge of the front wall at the base of the stem'or post partially conforms with the contour of the collar of the shirt so that the shirt will fit more snugly in the envelope. envelope is designed primarily for usein connection with shirts having the semi-stifi or stiff collars. However, the same can also be used in the soft collared shirts in order to maintain the collar in a neater appearance andalso to prevent creasing at the side edges of the collar.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A protecting envelope for shirts having attached turned down collars, said envelope comprising an elongated tubular body having front and back walls, the upper portion of the front wall being cut out to form a collar engaging and supporting part with an attached foldable web, said web joining the central portion of said part with said front wall, said part being of. a length equal to the width of the front wall and having ends normally but detachably joining the back wall, longitudinal edges of said part contracting from the wide central portion to said ends, said part when detached from the back wall being foldable on said web within the neck band of the shirt arranged in said envelope, and said edges of said part being arranged one parallel and adjacent the back wall and the other substantially conforming with the upper edge of the front and sides of the shirt collar.

2. A protecting envelope for shirts having attached turned down collars, said envelope comprising an elongated tubular body having front and back walls, the upper portion of the front wall being cut out to form a collar engaging and supporting part with an attached foldable web, said web joining the central portion of said part with said front wall, said part being of a length equal to the width of the front wall and having ends normally but detachably joining the back Wall, longitudinal edges of said part contracting" from the wide central portion to said ends, said part when detached from the back wall being foldable on said web within the neck band of the shirt arranged in said envelope, said edges of said part being arranged one parallel'and adjacent the back wall and the other substantially conforming with the upper edge of the front and sides of the shirt collar, the central portion of.

said part and said web being arranged in a rearwardly inclined position when in use, the last mentioned edge of said part being substantially straight, and the first mentioned edge being convexly curved.

EDGAR BACON.

It will be understood that the 

